Nonrandomized analysis identifies cost savings and improved clinical outcomes in dementia care education, suggesting person-centered approaches enhance rehabilitation.
Background: We assessed the cost-benefit of person-centered care education for direct care staff of an Australian subacute rehabilitation hospital, with respect to clinical outcomes and service costs of persons with dementia. Methods: In a nonrandomized pre/post/follow-up design, clinical outcomes and service use were evaluated for matched comparison (n=77) and intervention (n=80) groups for delirium incidence, accidents/injuries, injury treatment, psychotropic medicines, length of stay, hospital readmissions and discharge destination. Group-level outcomes were monetized and included in a cost-benefit analysis (present value of benefits/present value of education and service costs). Results: Relative to the comparison group, there were significant reductions in intervention group delirium ( P =0.001), accidents/injuries ( P =0.007), treatment for injuries ( P =0.007), psychotropic medicines ( P =0.030) and hospital readmission within 30 days ( P =0.002). After adjusting for the longer length of stay of the intervention subgroup who contracted COVID-19 (n=10), there were no group differences in length of stay ( P =0.83). Per participant service costs for comparison and intervention groups were AU$34,870 and AU$33,969, respectively, equating to a per-participant cost saving of AU$914 ( P <0.0001). Conclusion: Investment in person-centered care education of direct care staff is warranted from both clinical and economic perspectives.
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Chenoweth et al. (2025) studied this question.
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